Going to the Hawkwatch

• From State route 67, turn north on Highland Valley Road, following it around curves. End at Wildlife Research Institute headquarters, 18030 Highland Valley Road.

• Begins at 9 a.m.

• Take binoculars or a bird-watching scope.

Raptors you might see

• golden eagles

• bald eagles

• peregrine falcons

• prairie falcons

• American kestrels

• ferruginous hawks

• merlins

• red-tail hawks

RAMONA  About 150 people watched as Dave Bittner stood against a grassland backdrop in Ramona speaking about the eagles, hawks, falcons and kestrels that make their homes, some permanently and some seasonally, in the area.

Spectators got an up-close look at some raptors, such as the red shouldered hawk and the larger ferruginous hawk, which makes the trip to Southern California in the winter to escape the cold of the north.

The Ramona-based Wildlife Research Institute holds Hawkwatch every Saturday in January and February to teach people about the creatures that make their nests and burrows in the Southern California grasslands, most of which have disappeared under pavement and buildings, and encourage people to help in research and conservation by becoming institute members.

The institute’s research focuses on golden eagles, desert tortoises, burrowing owls and seeds encased in clay and compost.

It is run by only five full-time staff members, and relies heavily on volunteers for its research, which often takes them to Montana to place electronic tags on golden eagles to track them via satellite.

Many of those who volunteer and make up the advisory board and board of directors are Ph.D. scientists, who sometimes take vacation days and pay their own way to help with the research. And on Saturdays in January and February, many of them can be found helping out at the Hawkwatch.

The ferruginous hawk’s “eyes are about eight times better than yours,” Bittner, the executive director and one of the founders of the institute, told a crowd of bird-watchers last week.

A ferruginous flew over the crowd, nearly on cue, just minutes after Bittner presented a captive one.

“I didn’t realize there was that many varieties of hawks and falcons in the area,” said Bob Fryling, who lives nearby and attended the Hawkwatch because he often sees the birds near his home.

The nonprofit institute was formed in 1996, though many of those currently involved in the group were already doing research on the grasslands and its inhabitants and holding the Hawkwatch before that. The institute moved into its headquarters, where the Hawkwatch is held, on the edge of the preserved Ramona grasslands in 2000.

The land that provides a backdrop for the show — once slated for an industrial park and airport expansion — was once fought over by developers and environmentalists, Bittner said.

“We knew at the time we started all this that this was threatened habitat,” he said. “It was flat, perfect for putting houses in, all you have to do is push the dirt and bulldoze the rocks, and make a road.”

The institute has worked with the state and county and used public support garnered largely from the Hawkwatch to protect 3,500 acres of grasslands.

Leigh Bittner, Dave’s wife who helped found the organization, said protecting large swathes of land is important for sensitive species such as the golden eagles that nest in the area.

“Golden eagles can’t tolerate disturbance,” she said. The preserved areas are “connected to other wildlife corridors, so the connectivity is important here too. Otherwise you just have islands and species still don’t do well because they need the connectivity.”

The purpose of the Hawkwatch, the organizers say, is to educate people about what’s at stake with raptors.

“Their population is declining nationally,” said Chris Meador, assistant director of the organization. “They’re not doing good, and I don’t want them to be like the bald eagle, where they have to be endangered and they have to spend millions of dollars to try and get them back.”